Floods. Tropical storms. Earthquakes.
Tsunamis. Landslides. Droughts. Disasters are a part of everyday life and
they are increasing.

Nowhere are they increasing faster and
with greater ferocity than in Asia Pacific, the world's most disaster-prone
region where, on average, 40 per cent of the globe's "natural"
catastrophe occurs. Witness such events as 2010's Pakistan superflood,
2009's ravaging typhoons in the Philippines, or 2008's Cyclone Nargis and
Sichuan earthquake.

As the number of people significantly affected
by the catastrophic floods in Pakistan climbed to an estimated 17.2 million,
the United Nations was scaling up relief operations, John Holmes, outgoing
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator,
said today during a Headquarters news conference.

"This is a disaster of unprecedented
scale in terms of the number of people affected and the geographical area
affected," he said, calling the situation "extremely challenging".